It’s the season of joy, peace, and goodwill…unless you live in Bailey Downs. Last Christmas Eve, two teens came to a grisly end in a school basement. Now, one year later, a new set of horrors has come to town. As three friends explore the site of the massacre, a malevolent spirit is determined to keep them there forever. One of the first cops to the scene of the bloody murders has new complications as his seven-year-old son exhibits terrifying and violent behavior. And when a local family seeks reconciliation with an estranged aunt for the wrong reasons, they suddenly find themselves running in terror from Krampus, the demonic anti-Santa Claus. Not even St. Nick is immune to the terror as he fights back against a horde of zombie elves. This is destined to be a holiday no one will ever forget.

There are a lot of well-respected folks out there that are calling A Christmas Horror Story the Christmas version of Trick r Treat and after seeing it I agree! This is going to do for Christmas what that did for Halloween as far as horror movies go. We have a lot of different things going on here and while it might not be as organized as Trick r Treat was, it still delivers where it counts. Our anchor here seems to be none other than William Shatner, who in the role of Dangerous Dan is a radio DJ who isn’t just determined to keep the Christmas spirit alive, he’s going to tell us one horror Christmas story after another! While this movie has more than a few good things going for it, the story we see about Santa having to take out a bunch of zombie elves is by far THE best thing I’ve seen in a horror movie in years. This hands-down wins over the horror world for Christmas and might just make this the best Christmas themed horror film I’ve seen since the classic Silent Night, Deadly Night. People are going to like a lot about this movie, but the Santa story and the great twist that it comes with is going to be what most are talking about. I loved that part of the film and I can’t stress that fact enough.

Now, for everything else. The movie doesn’t really have a dud in the bunch. From some kids sneaking into a place they shouldn’t be, to some creepy kid action, to Krampus, this is one fun and at times bloody horror ride. As crazy as it might sound, when you add all that up with the Christmas theme and look of the film, you get a movie that can get any red-blooded horror fan ready for Christmas and I can easily see this as a horror film everyone will want to watch every year for the holiday. Maybe it still isn’t a perfect horror film, but it is a clever one in a lot of ways and it does just what it needs to do in order to ensure you keep watching and get totally creeped out all at the same time. Anyone could have been the radio host, but William Shatner really nails his part and I think it is a great casting choice to have him be the defender and storyteller in this. There is a lot of dark humor that mixes well with the subject and while you can’t say it is as good as Trick r Treat overall, it really does come darn close. Like I said, easily the best Christmas horror film we’ve seen in probably the last 30 years.